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Thursday, 14 August 2014

The relationship between Travel and Wear

Oman, Muscat July 2014

Cruise collections were first introduced as mid season clothing lines created as a wardrobe for travel wear. Designers and couturiers saw the birth of a whole new season that didn't have to be defined by the current climate state but more on the places that you, as a client of fashion are expected to go. The fashion industry tends to feed on the idea that a different situation and time (season or place) is enough of a reason to change your whole attire. Said client is anticipated to naturally reach for something out of their ordinary ensemble when not in their usual homebound. A foreign colour? A pair of new jeans? Or perhaps all the clothes you've neglected and felt were not suited enough to wear unless you were in a completely different environment surrounded by people who don't know or care about you. Society moulds the concept of having a time and place for everything, especially when it comes to clothes. Society has never been so right.Of course on a daily basis, this wouldn't cut through. Even I (a self proclaimed fashion enthusiast) do not, just for sanity reasons. However, this post is not about fashion on a daily basis, it's about fashion being flexible enough even beyond the space you can see your current self being comfortable in. The relationship between travel and wear can be very interesting.

These changes and ideas didn't just create themselves, people and history contributed towards them. Like most teenage fashion enthusiasts, my form of inspiration seeking mostly come from mainstream sources like magazine issues and endless scrolling on tumblr and instagram. Of course this doesn't mean i'm limited to that but I will admit these sources play a major role in my wardrobe. But what about the top dogs who make these issues, write those editorials, design the runway clothes that influence those tumblr and instagram photos? Where do they get their inspiration? Walking around the Muttrah souk in Muscat, I was sparked by the detailing of literally....everything. Silverware, Islamic architecture, colours, repetitive patterns, food etc. I was left dangling because not even being there was satisfyingly enough to take it all in.

You wouldn't expect Lagerfeld to be perched in front of his laptop early in the morning, scrolling down his tumblr dashboard while sipping some green tea. These people travel in their minds (or literally just travel, who knows?) , to a different place or time looking for a vision we will incorporate and the fashion world will spend more money than time would ever replace.

Maybe some high end designer out there was nostalgic for a trend set in the 90's, then all of a sudden - Juju sandals and all things holographic were making their way back on display in high end stores after a whole decade of neglect. Another wanted to combine the irony of fat food colours and humour, thus a whole line of McDs inspired clothing was put out. It's no doubt that Elie Saab has some of that eastern mix floating around with things like the choices of his materials and embroidery, Queen Rania of Jordan didn't roam around in his design without a cultural reason other than it's aesthetics. And a couple of 'let's beat the social system' spirited designers wanted to prove that embracing ugly passé was more beautiful than the time society has dedicated in installing what clothing tastes gender roles are expected to wear. Pool sliders and socks are more in trend than ever before, not to mention the critics that follow after. Maybe we should stop draping things on our body for the sake of it and actually put some thought into what brought us to put it on. Wherever and whenever.

Most photos and video clips were taken by my sister Iman and a few by Rab (thanks guys!).

This was such an interesting post to read as it's something I've never thought about in depth before. All of these photos are beautiful, especially as the colours are so bold - you've opened my eyes through both the pictures and your words!

http://findmethoseheels.blogspot.co.uk/- I follow back on bloglovin' -

I love love love your blog, I actually have the same message on my blog. I promote fashion as a tool, trying to make ppl think about it before they put it on.Islamic fashion is so so fascinating to me. Every once in a while I publish sth related to that type of fashion and ppl love it. Honestly I think should do it more often. Btw photos are great and the video ;)